Pirro to ride Gresini CRT
Added on Monday, December 5th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Pirro to ride Gresini CRT
Michele Pirro will step up to MotoGP next season with the Gresini team, moving up from Moto2 to ride the team’s new CRT Honda.
Pirro enjoyed a good season with the Gresini Moto2 team in 20011, winning the last race of the season and claiming a third place finish at Silverstone to finish ninth in the championship and has been rewarded with the chance to graduate to the premier class series.
The 25-year-old Italian will race the team’s FTR-Honda run to the new CRT rules, alongside the fully-blown RC213V of fellow new signing Alvaro Bautista.
“I’m happy to have made this decision and proud to join Gresini in this interesting new adventure,” said Pirro.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make because of the fact that initially I had wanted to try to improve on the 2011 results I had in Moto2, but the growing confidence that Fausto Gresini had for me at the end of the season left me with no doubt about the choice to take.”
Team chief Fausto Gresini added: “We think that for a new project like CRT, the right thing to do was give Michele Pirro an opportunity to further demonstrate his potential.
“In the final round of the Moto2 World Championship, he certified that he has the technical and competitive qualities and we believe that in this new category of CRT he can be one of the protagonists.”
“His victory in Valencia was impressive and memorable; he provided us all enthusiasm and encouraged us to want to be a part of this fascinating adventure. Also, we have keep in mind that we are a Italian team, this is important for us, and the decision to do this project with Michele is also the result of this standpoint.”
